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16 November 2012

This 'n' That

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that yesterday I tweeted out a picture of my "Lazarus plant." I've had this plant about four years. It's traveled with me from cubicle to cubicle, and I finally brought it home this past Spring. It hasn't been the same since. In the comforts of my house, it never flowered which, strange as it may sound, made me a little sad. It's flowers were unique and beautiful.

What I always loved and depended on with this plant, however, was its ability to resurrect itself. If I neglected to water it, it would droop to the point where I was certain it was dead. Yet, with a little fresh water, it would perk up and resurrect, hence my naming it the Lazarus plant.

Sadly, my poor little plant perks up no more. Unexpectedly out of town for a few days last week, I was unable to water it and it seems it has embarked on its final droop. Ah, well. Even Lazarus did eventually die again.

We as Christians can allow ourselves to droop due to malnourishment. Without a steady diet of the Word of God, we cannot flourish and eventually we will wither. Is it not true, though, that in this state of starvation, when we finally come to feast on His Word, we are immediately revitalized and resurrected from our dismal, stunted state? Do not let yourself begin to droop even for a moment, dear Christian. The days ahead of us are bleak, but we look forward to a greater hope.

Now, go water your plants, sing them a little song, then come back here and enjoy your week in review (kind of):

Like I said, leave it to Chicago. The mindset of Chicagoans truly is unsettling (and sadly is representative of much of the country, I'm afraid.) I guess you can't say 'defeat Jihad' without being accused of hate speech.

In a recent post at The Cripplegate, Nathan Busenitz responds to a reader’s question regarding the claim that Charles Spurgeon was a cessationist, yet himself admitted to receiving subjective impressions from the Holy Spirit on rare occasions. Is this the same as the New Testament gift of prophecy?

Have you heard the latest story out of IHOP (the prayer place, not the pancake place)? Ken Silva has the story on the IHOP University student who has confessed to murdering a former IHOP intern. He also has the follow up story as the murder suspect now says the victim's husband put him up to it. Today we find out that more information continues to emerge. Sadly, many people view IHOP as representative of true Christianity, so we find that there is more than one victim in this situation.

15 comments:

MacArthur's post election "debriefing" is the most sanity I've heard out of a Christian regarding politics in quite some time. Praise the Lord! Thank you Pastor John for your clear, Biblical response, and thank you Ebenz for posting it. (Actually prior to the election, Pastor Don Green had posted quite a wonderful article on the same matter himself.)

As for Graham... nothing surprises me there. What does grieve my heart is how many believers still defend the Graham "legacy", which has been rife with compromise for a long, long time.

No kidding. And I scoured several store shelves today only to find not one box of Twinkies or cupcakes or Suzy Qs or Ho Hos. If you like the Hostess mini blueberry muffins, though, then you're in luck - every store still had those on the shelf!

The loss of these snack cakes is truly one of the greatest that America ever has suffered.

I dunno if you know much about prophecy but I've always been quite fascinated with it ever since I was saved. I can’t help but wonder if we are looking at the beginnings of the PSALM 83 war. Some eschatologists like Jimmy DeYoung omit Psalm 83 and believe this is shaping up to be the Ezekiel 38 war. The Ezekiel 38 war will happen at the beginning of the Tribulation.

If Egypt or Hezbollah enters the fray Israel will be fighting a two front war. We need to keep an eye on the tender box as it seems to be escalating.

\ pray for Israel and pray for the Jewish people for we have been truly blessed through them to share in on such a great salvation!..

We need to pray for their salvation in true God first for they do not know Him.

"Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Thanks Despeville, you are exactly right dear brother. That's first and foremost, ongoing in my prayers.

I've surfed websites that hold up God's chosen people and the land covenant people according to Scripture- which is fine. But my heart sinks when all they do is pray for the nation of Israel and never think of praying for the Jewish people who overall are still blinded and lost.

We can pray for the peace of Jerusalem and we should. But they need true peace that only comes when we make peace with God the Father through the ONLY peace-the Lord Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace!

It is necessary for most of Israel to be in a state of unbelief to fulfill the Bible prophecy at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. See Romans 11:25-36.Also, we are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem because there will only be peace there when the Lord Jesus rules and reigns in the Millennial Kingdom.The Abrahamic Covenant still stands as unconditional and everlasting for the nation of Israel. The land part of it will be fulfilled at the Second Coming, as well. Read thru Genesis at it's confirmation to Isaac and Jacob. The actual land is much bigger than the nation right now.The spiritual promises are being fulfilled and have their fruition for Israel when they do again, in the Millennial Kingdom, what God chose them for, to be a light to the world by telling the world about God, Isa.2:3-4, which is future. They failed the first time around and wanted to keep that knowledge to themselves. The physical promise of the land will also be given then. Read Ezek.37. The two sticks have not yet been joined. The land inheritance goes to the Ephraimites and they have not all returned to Israel yet. The Judahites, the Jews, are there but since the Assyrian captivity, not all have returned.Hope this helps.So as we pray for the nation of Israel, we are in effect, praying for the return of the Lord. Only then will true peace prevail.As all of this unfolds, we can find peace in knowing that with the world turning against Israel, which is prophesied to happen before the Second Coming, we know that the Rapture of the True Church, the Body of Christ, cannot be far behind.Pam

Erin, did you throw the plant out? If not try cutting off the foliage and give it some fertilizer - Miracle Gro will work or whatever you have around - and see if that perks it up later. Those plants are very hard to kill. :)Love your blog. I don't follow too many people but I do love yours! And I especially love This n That.

LOL, no I've not thrown it away yet - I didn't have the heart to do it! But, perhaps not surprisingly, I just looked and I see a couple of green leaves struggling to survive amid the dead ones. It really is a Lazarus plant!

EBenz, at least you're not like the man who was watering all the plants in Church. All the plants looked so lovely, green and wonderful. Finally, a Church goer went up to him and asked, "why are you watering all the fake plants?"

I love Kay Arthur and have listened to her on the radio quite often. Although she continues to embrace people like Beth Moore I thought at first that I would drop her. But I started thinking that if I did that who else would I drop? Until she begins teaching false teachings or espouses it or other teachers THEN I would have to drop her.

My heart sinks that now she is doing just that.

I'm only one voice and I'm not a very good writer. But couldn't you EBenz along with several other women and men (someone who is very gracious and kind) send Kay Arthur a letter or something chiding our concerns in love to her? We need to do more than just expose those who are clearly Christians and have gone astray. We need to admonish them. Of course we don't go to her church and being online doesn't give us the rights that her immediate church body does. But we are family and as brothers and sisters in Christ we DO have a responsibility to do so.

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